SG50: Time Check
by lopekya
Summary: Singapore's 50th National Day, starting from midnight, August 9th onwards. Includes: texts at 12AM, running through Orchard, and seating plans for world peace.


AUGUST 9

12 AM

For there was nothing better than the sweet, sweet sound of a familiar tune bursting out of her handphone at exactly midnight. Hands scrabbling for her glasses, she swung her legs out of bed—curse you, Xiang, for who else could it be—and removed the device from its charging port. The lack of caller identification (spend $5 on that? never!) doesn't bother her, she's memorised quite a number of numbers. This one in particular.

"Hello." Ah, that was the perfect amount of crankiness. Her eyes rolled involuntarily as a cacophony of voices erupted from her phone, singing completely offbeat.

"Happy Birthday to you-" She ended the call. Her phone immediately vibrates.

 **[09/08/15, 00:02]**

 **From: Xiang (HK)**

 **To: Vanda Lee (SG)**

hahahaha omg lol

 **[09/08/15, 00:02]**

 **From: Vanda Lee (SG)**

 **To: Xiang (HK)**

I will send you up with the Red Lions. Leave me alone, I'm going back to sleep.

 **[09/08/15, 00:03]**

 **From: Xiang (HK)**

 **To: Vanda Lee (SG)**

k c u in 6 hrs sk + tw coming 2o

 **[09/08/15, 00:03]**

 **From: Vanda Lee (SG)**

 **To: Xiang (HK)**

WHAT THE FUCK

 **[09/08/15, 00:03]**

 **From: Vanda Lee (SG)**

 **To: Xiang (HK)**

WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN BY THAT

 **[09/08/15, 00:04]**

 **From: Vanda Lee (SG)**

 **To: Xiang (HK)**

STOP SEEN-ZONING

 **[09/08/15, 00:04]**

 **From: Vanda Lee (SG)**

 **To: Xiang (HK)**

I'M MAKING A 'NO-LAND LIST' AND PUTTING THE THREE OF YOU ON IT

She returned to her bed.

* * *

7AM

Perhaps their flight had been delayed. A massive traffic jam from Changi to her place, perhaps, or a meteor had just picked the perfect spot to land. Nevertheless, it was more than six hours past midnight, and when she blinked the sleep out of her eyes, there wasn't a sign of the three promised visitors. Bless. Singapore headed into the kitchen of her one-room flat, humming absentmindedly. _Let's see...I'll have to meet up with Boss before heading over to the Padang for the parade. If I—!_ Her cup clattered to the floor (plastic, what a relief) as a pair of hands suddenly cover her eyes.

"Guess who, da-ze!" Avenging her fallen comrade, she slammed her elbow into his stomach. The hands released her with a loud yelp, accompanied by low chuckles and high-pitched giggling. Spinning around, she came face to face with three of the most irritating nations in the world. Though, that didn't narrow it down by much. About 70% of the world was annoying in one way or another.

"Eeep!" Oh, how embarrassing. Thank you, Taiwan, for tackling me, she thought, bracing herself under the other girl's onslaught of hugs disguised as full body slams. Or vice versa. One could never tell when it came to Taiwan.

"Happy birthday! Look, look, we're all wearing red and white! I even made Xiang do it, and do you know how much he complained? It was horrible!" Taiwan gestured excitedly, forcing the other three to lunge for toppling items before they hit the ground.

"I, like, didn't complain that much. You're exaggerating, Mei." Hong Kong cut off the accusation with a lazy wave, keeping track of the conversation despite the music blaring from his headphones (which were, coincidentally or not, red and white).

"Nah, he agreed to it in the end because mmph!" Hong Kong reacted with surprising speed, clapping a hand over Korea's mouth. She blinked, before shrugging as she moved on to more pressing issues.

"How did you enter?" She queried. Her security measures should have set off an alarm upon detecting intruders. Her windows had grilles, and she always keeps a close eye on her keys. Ah, paranoia.

"Hacking security systems was invented by me, da-ze!" Oh. She clicked her tongue. If Korea could bypass her security systems that easily, she certainly needed to up her game.

"If you're going to like, rewire your security stuff, you should probably like, get changed first." Was she still wearing-ah. Pyjamas. "Out! Out of my house!"

* * *

11AM

Well, she had packed the three of them off to some remote hawker centre in Jurong where hopefully, they wouldn't bother her until the start of the parade. Singapore winced, feeling the aides' scorching glares of disapproval as she continued to go through reports at her desk. Well, she couldn't very well just slack off, could she? Even if it was her birthday. Ironic though, the day she had separated from him was becoming known as her birthday now. It was, in a sense, her day of birth as an actual nation, but the heartbreak and betrayal she had gone through never seemed to leave her.

 _And of course, I always think of him on National Day. Che._ She clenched her teeth. Think happy thoughts, no Malaysia thoughts, no separation thoughts, come on... Shuffling her papers, her eyes stubbornly fixed on the reports before her, but the words seemed to be meaningless squiggles. At that moment, a stray post-it beneath the pile caught her gaze. Scanning it hastily, Singapore made to cast it aside before pausing. She blinked once, twice, before reading it again.

 _NPs attending NDP 2015:_

 _ENG (on behalf of UK)_

 _VIET_

 _SK_

 _TW_

 _HK_

 _TH_

 _AUS_

 _NZ_

 _CHN_

When in the world did she write this? That was her messy, burning the midnight oil handwriting. If she deciphered the abbreviations correctly, it meant that the nation personifications of England, Vietnam, Thailand, Australia, New Zealand, China, South Korea, Taiwan, and Hong Kong would be attending the parade. The latter three she already knew, but the rest? Had arrangements been made? _Dieliaodieliaodieliaokenasai I'm going to die-_

"Miss Singapore, before you panic, a row of seats have already been set aside for the nation personifications attending." A breath that she had been unconsciously holding whooshed out at the aide's words. Regaining her composure, she nodded in gratitude. Bless you, whoever created capable aides.

"Thank you. Do you have the seating plan?" Really, what with the experience gained from countless World Meetings, a seating plan was always a good idea. One will never go wrong with a seating plan. And straitjackets.

"There isn't a seating plan, but you can draw one up if you would like, and I'll pass the message to the people on-site."

Waving her off in acknowledgement, a blank sheet of paper was pulled out and she set to work. China and Korea would be catastrophic, England and Hong Kong would be horrendous. Ah, then she could...no that wouldn't work...

* * *

12PM

An hour of maintaining world peace and lowering the probability of another diplomatic incident later, Singapore hummed satisfactorily as she handed the seating plan over to a nearby aide. Well, not as satisfactory as she would have liked. In the midst of ensuring that peace treaties would remain intact, she had no choice but to be seated next to Hong Kong. Ack. However, sacrifices had to be made. Even if it was her birthday. Besides, if he became too annoying she could always find a way to toss him into the road during the military showcase.

 _(Of course, she wasn't actually dreading it as much as she believed she was, but let's go along with it, for the sake of our long-suffering nation personification here.)_

* * *

12.15PM

That feeling of accomplishment vanished upon checking her phone. A long list of missed calls and messages had popped into existence on the screen. Confused, she tapped the first one.

 **[09/08/15, 12:05]**

 **From: Israel**

 **To: Vanda Lee (SG)**

 _Happy birthday, sorry can't attend. Btw, watch that new Mission Impossible movie. The tech seems pretty doable. You up for it?_

Ah, she'd forgotten the usual influx of messages on national days. Reminding herself to reply Israel later, she went through the rest of the inbox. The missed calls were mostly from various countries who upon not reaching her texted her a congratulations, happy birthday, et cetera.

The tension was going out of her shoulders as she came to the last message.

 **[09/8/15, 11:11]**

 **From: Boss**

 **To: Vanda Lee (SG)**

 _Reminder, lunch at Istana with foreign dignitaries and nation personifications starts at 12.30p.m._

Oh, yeah, this was the first time in 45 years she was hosting foreign dignitaries for the parade...

Wait, what? _What? WHAT?_

"I'mgoingtotheIstanadon'tpanicah-" Jabbering wildly to the startled aides, she dashed out of the office and into the—

"Die liao got jam! How to call taxi!" She cursed, glaring at the jam-packed road. Shouldn't everyone be taking advantage of the free MRT and bus rides today? Spinning around, she broke out in a mad sprint, dodging pedestrians and dashing across roads. Headlines flashed before her eyes. _Breaking news: Xiao Ja Bo dies in car accident as she reaches the Istana._ Oh, why did her office have to be on the other end of Orchard! Her thighs burned, her lungs burned, but that was what a desk job would do to you. Chest heaving, her eyes flickered to her watch. _12:25._ Past Macdonald House, straight on... The lush gardens of the Istana whizzed past as she darted in, hastily waving through security. She was going to die, but she would make it.

 _12:27._ Taking the stairs two at a time, she finally paused for breath outside the conference room. Combing her hair back , she straightened her clothes and wiped the sweat off her face. That ungraceful, messy side of her that had manifested itself had to go. Heart rate lowered by breathing evenly, a hasty smattering of reapplied makeup, and it was complete. _Quickly now, you have two minutes_. Unhurriedly, casually, she stepped inside, an epitome of poise. The mask was on.

"Sorry, sorry, there was a horrible traffic jam."

 _12:29._ She made sure to step on Hong Kong's foot while taking her seat.

* * *

 **I got this horrible, horrible idea of writing a National Day fic smack bang on...you guessed it August 9, National Day. I tried to finish it in one day, but spur of the moment sleepovers do not help one bit. So here I am now, 3 months and 9 days (i think) later, AND IT'S STILL NOT DONE. So hey, here's part 1, which has been done for at least a month as I try to figure out part 2. I have everything figured out! Just not written ack. Hopefully I'll get off my lazy ass and do part 2. My writing went super wonky at one point and I mixed up tenses oh my god and the characterisation too...so please review and give constructive criticism on how I can improve this! Thank you for reading!**

 **(I will never stop writing SGHK somehow into my fics. Why.)**


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